Make Your Own Braille Alphabet Tubs

Nikki Cochrane is a foster mom at a children’s home in India. Of her twelve kids, five are completely blind (and another has nystagmus and another is blind in one eye).

With very little access to resources, they rely on what they can find online or what they can create themselves. Recently, Nikki worked on a project that focused on alphabet learning for her kids that would be accessible to all the children. Using tactile objects and print/braille blocks, Nikki created alphabet tubs with a ziplock baggy for each letter.

What You’ll Need

(optional) a card with the name of the object in print and braille for each letter

Need some ideas for those letters? Some of them can be tricky! I always get stuck on I and J. Here’s Nikki’s list:

Animals (small animal toys)

Book

Car

Diaper

Elastic

Feather

Glue (a glue stick works well)

Headband

India (a small map cutout)

Jump rope

Key

Lollipop

Money

Necklace

Oval (shape)

Paper

Q-tip

Rectangle (shape)

Spoon

Toothbrush

Underwear

Velcro

Whistle

X (the shape)

Yarn

Zipper

Playing with the Alphabet

Place all the items in their bags and place the bags in a big plastic tub. Help your kids explore the tubs and open each bag to find what’s inside. Talk about the objects and what they represent and make the sound for each letter.

Some fun games to play may be to try to come up with other items that start with each letter, but don’t fit in your bag (like whale for W or House for H) or you could try to line up all your bags in alphabetical order then sing the alphabet song!